Thistle Hill House Museum

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Building a mansion for $46,000 may sound impossible, but A.B. Wharton and Electra Waggoner made it happen—in 1904, of course. Waggoner, the daughter of a wealthy cattle baron, met Wharton in 1901, and the pair was married a year later. They completed construction on their massive 11,000-square-foot home (known as Thistle Hill) on Pennsylvania Avenue soon after. Since the couple sold the mansion in 1911, it’s passed through the hands of a number of different ownership groups, finally settling with its current owner, an organization called Historic Fort Worth, in 2005. Today, Historic Fort Worth offers tours of the historic property, where groups can gaze on massive Tuscan columns, intricate interior woodwork, and a carriage house located in the fenced grounds away from the main house. Thistle Hill has been a Texas Historic Landmark since 1977 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is available for private parties, weddings, and corporate events.